In Sujata Bhatt's "Rooms by the Sea," the poet begins by saying that the light and heat of summer bring back memories of other times and places. In particular, she reminds Michael, the addressee of the poem, of the summer when they wanted a child. She then imagines a domestic scene that might have ensued in summertime beside the sea as the "cry of our imaginary child" woke them from their afternoon nap. By the end of the poem, however, this picture is fading away.

The words "light" and "heat" are repeated throughout the poem. Both are described as constant, and their presence brings together the three different levels on which the poem operates: present, past, and fantasy. The poem is in free verse, with stanzas and lines of irregular length, and this informality complements its dreamlike atmosphere and casual association of different times and places. Important concepts are emphasized by the use of repetition, as with "heat" and "light" throughout the poem and "freedom" in the second stanza:

This heat reminds me of a certain freedom
this light is the colour of a certain freedom
we had one summer – the freedom to want
a child ...